


Tora and Poppy's Fluffy Autumn

by MerakiForest



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Athletes, Autumn, Blogging, Childhood Trauma, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Pregnancy, Romance, crossfit!Tora, lifestyle blogger!Poppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26786677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiForest/pseuds/MerakiForest
Summary: Tora and Poppy are enjoying their last autumn together before the baby is born. Jumping in piles of leaves, hunting for baby pumpkins, hormonal tears, and morning workouts are all just a normal part of this season.
Relationships: Quincey/Cordelia, Tora/Poppy Wilkes
Comments: 17
Kudos: 87





	1. Pile of Leaves

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @subpar-selkie on Tumblr for the fun Flufftober prompts! I've decided to try to write a one-shot or drabble for each of these prompts and post daily (or close to it). The setting for this series of one-shots is that Tora and Poppy have been together for a few years. He'd been involved in some unsavory business but was able to get out of it safely (definitely not as involved as he is in canon). Now he's a professional Crossfitter and Poppy is a Lifestyle Blogger.

"When's the last time you jumped in a pile of leaves?"

The innocent question took Tora by surprise and he looked around at the sprinkling of dried leaves in the grass around the two of them.

"Jump in leaves, Bobby? Why would I do that?"

Poppy's bright amber eyes looked up at her husband in suspicion. "What do you mean, 'why?' It's a staple of autumn fun!"

Now it was Tora's turn to look at his wife suspiciously. What in the world? How could jumping into leaves be fun? Working out was fun because he could push himself to always reach a little bit further and test the limits of his body. Video games were fun because he could challenge his mind and reflexes with puzzles and complicated button combination. Even that cooking class with Poppy had been begrudgingly fun because his beautiful woman was a goofball and entertained him with her dance moves and endless chatter.

She knew a lot about a lot, but she was also quite the prankster. This leaf thing could be a set up.

"Sure, Bobby," he settled on responding with a disbelieving smile.

"I'm telling the truth!" she defended, her fuzzy boots clacking loudly as they punctuated each word. 

It was barely October and the woman was already in head-to-toe autumn wear: boots, dark jeans, a knitted sweater, and a knitted beanie. She'd even managed to bribe Tora into wearing a red flannel shirt which he had immediately rolled up to his elbows.

"How is jumpin' in some freakin' leaves fun?"

Brown eyes looked to the heavens for more patience in dealing with Tora's dysfunctional upbringing. 

"Okay, we're going to do it," she ordered as she stepped off the sidewalk and onto the still-green grass.

"What?"

Tora shuffled to a halt and stared at his wife as she ran around the patch of grass trying to pile all the leaves together. She huffed cutely as she had to struggle a bit to hunch over her still tiny baby bump and he couldn't help but grin softly at her.

"Stop staring at my butt," she chided with a soft pant.

Her round cheeks were rosy from the crisp air and the exertion and even though she was giving him her "stern" look it only made him smile wider. Cute. His wife was the cutest.

"Alright, explain this to me," he sighed as he crossed his arms and cocked his hips.

Poppy ignored the gaggle of ladies whispering behind their hands and giggling as they walked behind her husband's imposing figure. Years of being together had given her a thick skin for enduring the adoring fans everywhere he went.

Pointing proudly to the tiny piles of brown half-soft leaves, she smiled. "You jump in this. It's not as big a pile as would technically be needed, but your never having done this is an atrocity that needs to be immediately addressed."

Golden eyes narrowed as they stared at the target.

"Just...jump? With one foot or two?"

"Both feet," she clarified. "Come on, you can do it! Just imagine it's one of your Crossfit challenge things! Jump in it like you mean it!"

"I'm gonna slip and fall on my butt," he grumbled as he stared at the object of their discussion.

"Tora, you walk on your hands through an obstacle course for your fitness stuff. I have full faith in your balance."

He rolled his shoulders as he considered his options. Jump in the stupid leaves and make his wife happy even if he looked like a fool, or insist that this was dumb and in no way fun and have her huffy with her all through lunch. The curses he muttered under his breath made the blush on Poppy's cheeks burn a little brighter, but she stood her ground.

Those freshly cleaned street shoes stepped into the spongy grass resolutely and in a single fluid motion Tora jumped atop the pile of leaves like it was one of the boxes at the gym. His form was perfect and he landed with bent knees and a slight spring. His eyebrows had been furrowed in concentration and they relaxed once he was assured in his completion of the task.

"Yay!" Poppy cheered happily before throwing a couple of dried leaves over him like confetti. "You did it!"

Tora tried to hide his pleased grin, but it was impossible when the love of his life was cheering so enthusiastically for him accomplishing something so silly. And she meant it, the sweet thing. Even having been together for years, she was always discovering different ways that his childhood had been lacking and had decided to try to give him all the experiences now that he had missed back then. Once she had gotten pregnant, this desire seemed to have only increased. She wanted a great life for them and their child and nothing was going to stop her.

"And that's it?" he asked with a chuckle.

She leaned up and pressed a kiss to her favorite dimple.

"Well, to really have fun you need to have a giant pile of leaves that you can jump in and disappear into, but this was a good start."

"Okay, we'll have to try that when there are more leaves on the ground," he laughed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her up for a proper kiss.

The swell of her belly pressed firmly against him and Tora nearly melted into the kiss with a swoon. How had he managed to find such a lovely gal to love him and care for him better than anyone else ever had? And one that accepted him for all that he was - past, present, and future.

Even though he still didn't really get the whole point of jumping in the pile of leaves, Tora couldn't help the grin that stayed with him the rest of the afternoon. His future was looking pretty bright.


	2. First Day of Cool Weather

"Are those my leggings?" Poppy asked with her cheeks full of protein pancakes.

  
Tora looked down at the dark material clinging to his legs under his exercise shorts before rolling his eyes.

  
"They'd be shorts on me if they were yours."

Her nose wrinkled.

"But those are so cute!"

He chuckled before chugging down his pre-workout concoction.

"Don't be jealous, Bobby. We can get you a matching pair."

He flexed his thigh and threw her a wink making her snort a bit of her orange juice.

"Be honest - did Quincey get those for you?" she chuckled while wiping her nose with a tissue. "Cinnamon rolls really seems more his thing than yours."

"I think he worked something out with one of the brands I rep," he yawned before stepping out into their patio and taking a deep breath of the crisp air. While it was still technically summer, the temperature had finally dropped enough to be considered cool.

Just a few moments later he heard the shuffle of slippers and felt warm arms wrap around his waist. "Autumn is finally moving in," she mumbled against his back.

Goosebumps raised along her arms and Tora put his large hands over her arms and rubbed some warmth onto them.

"Yeah. It'll be a good one."

"It'll be our last one together before the baby comes."

She smiled against his back as he continued looking out over the cityscape. It had only been a couple of years ago that they had been arguing about ever expanding their family with children. Tora had been justifiably terrified of the responsibilities that went along with child rearing. His own childhood had been rife with abuse and neglect and he hadn't wanted to inflict any degree of that on his own.

Lots of therapy, discussions, and life together had happened in their years together and they were now finally walking into this new chapter of life together as prepared as they could be.

"It's not even five in the mornin', so don't get all hormonal yet," he teased lightly before turning around and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Bit chilly out here, so let's get ya and the baby back in the apartment."

Poppy smiled happily and let her husband guide her back into the house and towards the bedroom where she could get a few more blissful hours of sleep while he worked out. This autumn was looking to be one to remember.


	3. Apple Picking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops! Sorry for being slow to update this! Been working on some other stuff and fell behind on this, but don't worry! I'm still planning on completing all the prompts and am hoping to update twice a day if I can until I catch back up. ;)

"How many of these things do ya want?" Tora grumbled as he ignored his aching arms and held the bushel basket for his excitable wife.

"We can never have too many apples!" she replied happily before tossing another reddish-green apple. 

"Yes, we fricken' can," he shot back.

"I'm going to ignore you," she replied before tossing down another apple. 

Tora glared at the step ladder that his beautiful and _pregnant_ wife had decided was a good idea to climb up on in her search for more apples. She was apparently determined to give him a heart attack by insisting that the rickety thing was fine and perfectly suitable for her pregnant body. He still wasn't sure about that, so he kept close and never let his eyes waver from the decrepit thing.

How she was managing to keep up enough energy to still be picking apples astounded the large man. Poppy had never been one for much physical exertion, but there was something about the crisp weather and the crooked little trees that called on her inner power and she was out-picking even the teenagers nearby. Gold eyes moved up to stare at the little baby bump and he wondered if this was maybe another one of those weird pregnancy things. Did pregnant women produce twice as much energy as regular women? Or maybe it was something to even out the weariness of the first trimester?

"Okay, that's it for this tree," she huffed before carefully making her way down the two steps and onto the soft ground. "Could you take a few pictures for me with my phone? I need them for the blog."

Ignoring the voice in his head that suspiciously sounded like his annoying best friend calling him an "Instagram Husband," Tora took her phone and just took the pictures as she directed him to. He definitely didn't have an eye for this fancy stuff and didn't have the patience for all the little details that made her blog successful, but he knew how to point the camera and click on the little circle that took the picture. 

"Those good?" he asked as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

Poppy glanced through the camera roll and tucked some of her loose brunette curls behind her ear while swiping. 

"Perfect! Thanks, Tora!"

He looked back down towards their practically full basket. "What are we gonna do with all this?"

An excited gleam burned in her eyes at the question.

"So many things! Ooh, I've been dying to try a few new recipes this year including apple dumplings! I'm going to be making apple cakes, pies, turnovers, dumplings, and even trying canning some apple sauce and apple butter!"

"Wow," he breathed out in surprise. "That's a lot of apple stuff."

"Yes! It's going to be great!"

Tora was comforted in the fact that Poppy had a pretty good track record of experimenting with food. In their six years together there had only been a few handful of foodie flops. 

"We're gonna force Gyu and Quincey to take some of it home with them," he warned. "I'm not gonna be building muscles solely on apples."

"If I leave them any," she sighed happily while stroking her belly. "The baby is hungry for some apples!"

"Sure," he laughed, deciding to just nod along and agree with the woman. 

If apples were what Poppy wanted, apples she would get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who might be unfamiliar or forgot, Gyu and Quincey are Tora's bros - his bffs. And please forgive any typos! I haven't edited this yet and probably won't really edit any of these until the end of the month.


	4. Night at the Drive-In

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Poppy squealed as she adjusted her pillows and blankets.

Tora hopped up onto the bed of the truck after dumping the last of the pillows back there.

"Glad ta here that, Bobby," he chuckled.

"It's too bad that Quincey didn't get to come," she pouted as he settled next to her and began adjusting all the pillows. "He's never been to the drive-in either."

"Well, he has," Tora snickered as he added some extra cushion to his back. "He just hasn't exactly seen a movie in one."

"That doesn't make any sense," Poppy huffed.

"Don't make me spell out," he coughed before giving her his best suggestive face and waggling his eyebrows.

She stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds before groaning and kicking at her husband.

"UGH!!!"

"It's the thing ta do," he laughed while swatting her kicking feet.

"Gross! You didn't do that too, did you?" He bit his lip and glanced away with a guilty cough. "Tora!!!"

"Hey, don' ask questions ya don't want the answers to," he replied in amusement.

"Men," she muttered grumpily while grabbing her bag of popcorn and stuffing some of the fluffy kernels into her mouth.

Tora just shrugged and leaned over to snatch some popcorn for himself. The sounds of the families surrounding them flittered through the chilly air, no wind to sweep the conversations and laughter away. The large white screen loomed a ways off, a monolith of years gone by. Narin City had been a very different place when this structure had first been built and it had seen more history than a lot of the citizens of the city had.

Munching on some candy corn, Poppy looked up at Tora and studied him. There wasn't a big difference in their ages but the experiences they had in those years was so vastly different and sometimes she felt like they were from different eras themselves. It was a miracle that he had been able to pull away from the darkness of his previous life as well as he had and she never wanted to take that for granted.

"Come snuggle me properly," she demanded softly and with a grin.

"Sure thing."

He rolled to his side and pulled her up against his solid body. A large hand smoothed down her flannel pajama pants before it settled over the swell of her pregnant belly. Poppy adjusted the pillows and blankets for a few more minutes before the sound of the trailers starting caught her attention. She leaned back with a huff and settled in to enjoy the double feature.


	5. Hay Rides

Autumn seemed to be in full swing now with crimson and ocher leaves barely hanging onto branches for dear life against cool gusts of wind. Children were squealing in delight and mothers were begging and bribing children (and the occasional significant other) to be _still for just one good picture_. Tora grinned behind a handful of popcorn as Poppy tried to help her friend wrangle her 3 children in front of the photo booth decorated with scarecrows, dried stalks of corn, and pumpkins. She approached this task of child wrangling with the same amount of gusto that she did everything else and in no time at all there was a perfectly delightful photo of chubby cheeked children smiling angelically. 

"Now the ride!!!!" the eldest of the children screamed excitedly. 

She was a lanky thing that was missing one of her front teeth already and her strawberry blond hair was about as wild as her personality. Tora knew to avoid her at all costs if he didn't want to get dragged into all the mazes and rides. She had a grip tighter than a boa constrictor and she was not afraid to use it.

"Hay ride!!!" the other two screamed in agreement and Tora frowned as he stepped behind another corn stalk decoration to avoid catching the attention of the gremlins. 

What in the world was a hay ride? His brain conjured up images of fair rides all made out bales of hay and weathered ropes. Seemed dangerous and he hoped that Poppy wasn't planning on getting anywhere near that stuff. 

"Oh alright, we can go to the hay ride," Poppy laughed, grabbing a hold of the wandering toddler. "Let's go this way, guys."

Now on full alert, Tora decided that risking the attachment of a child was an acceptable risk to take when the well being of his wife and child were on the line.

"Hey, Bobby, don't you think that's a bit much?" he muttered quietly next to her. 

She jumped in surprise, still not being immune to his stealth.

"Sheesh! No need to sneak up on me, Tora." Those beautiful brown eyes glared at him in annoyance. "And what's a bit much?"

The mental image of Poppy's head sticking out of a bale of hay while she was swung up and down repeatedly by ropes and pullies made his stomach churn.

"Hay rides? I don't think that you should be getting on stuff like that with the baby."

Her eyebrows crinkled together in confusion and he was temporarily distracted by the pout of her glossy lips. 

"What?"

"Too dangerous," he muttered again before leaning in for a kiss.

"EWWW!!!" the children screeched making him and Poppy jump.

"Kissing is gross!" the middle child whined.

Poppy's friend just shrugged helplessly while Poppy laughed.

"Kissing is not gross," she tried to explain. "It's a nice thing to do with the one you love."

Tora felt a bony hand latch onto his and he looked down to see the sparkling eyes of the eldest child.

"Yeah," she sighed with a large grin. "I guess kissing can be good."

"Uh, when you're an adult, kiddo," he warned with a grimace. "And don' go around kissing married men."

She just grinned a bit wider anda Tora felt his stomach churn a little. Kids were creepy.

"Hazy ride!" the toddler screamed, reminding them all of their next move. 

"Let's get moving," Poppy called out to the small group. "It's this way and we're going to need to get tickets."

They all moved forward like a loose unit and after failing to shake the girl off his arm Tora sidled up to Poppy and tried to dissuade her again. 

"Look, I'm not tryin' ta order you around or anything," he whispered as he leaned over to her. Trying to have a private conversation when he was twice her size sometimes presented its challenges. Especially with nosey little brats around. "But I just want ya to be safe."

"Tora, why would you think hay rides are not safe?" she whispered back as the toddler dragged her along. "Is it all the bumping? Because I don't think it'll be a big deal."

The mental image of his wife bouncing and bumping on the ground in a circle hay bale nearly had Tora green with nausea. 

"Please, Bobby, don't do this." 

Why was she not more concerned about this?! Poppy was always so conscious and careful with her health and anything that would affect the baby. They had already begun baby proofing the apartment (including locking away all his weights and exercise equipment), they had switched to fragrant-free laundry detergent and were eating considerably more organic foods. So why was being knocked about in itchy hay okay?

She huffed and shook her head, but Poppy smiled softly and nodded. "If it really bothers you, I won't do it, okay? I love you, Tora, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

He took a deep breath and released it slowly, one of the stress relieving techniques he'd learned in therapy. 

"Yeah, I'd feel better."

"Okay, then." Her smile remained soft and she squeezed at his bicep as best as she could with her small hands. "But you definitely should do it!"

That queasy feeling returned and his grimace made her laugh heartily. 

"I don't know, Bobby. Doesn't sound like fun."

"IT'S SO FUN MISTER TORA AND YOU SHOULD RIDE IT NEXT TO ME!!!!!!!" the gremlin still glued to his hand cried out excitedly. "AND WE COULD HOLD HANDS THE WHOLE TIME!"

Before he had a chance to respond Poppy announced that they were at the ride and went up to buy the tickets with her friend. Tora looked around in confusion, not seeing anything at all that resembled a ride. The only thing nearby was a grizzled old man sitting in the seat of a tractor with a rickety cart attached. After looking around again he narrowed his eyes at the cart and examined the sad little lumps of hay organized in neat little rows on it. That was an odd way to haul hay; not very efficient at all.

Things clicked as soon as a child jumped on the back of the cart and loudly claimed his spot on the hay. Parents and children began filling up the cart and Tora suddenly felt very silly. Poppy was walking back to him to coax the girl off his arm when he pointed at the cart.

"That's a hay ride?"

"Uh, yeah?"

He couldn't stop the blush from burning on his cheeks as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Well...uh, it's, I guess...I mean..."

Realization lit up in her eyes.

"Oh, you didn't know what a hay ride was?" His embarrassed expression cut off any teasing she thought and she just moved to his side and offered a hug. "Do you want to ride? We could do this together if you'd like."

Tora nodded silently and the child clinging to him screamed in delight. "Yeah, just as long as ya sit between me and this parasite."

Poppy swatted him playfully on the arm before bouncing towards the ticket booth to grab two more tickets. 


	6. Pumpkin Spice

"There's gotta be some kinda rules about this," Tora sneered.

Quincey ran his hands through his platinum blond hair in annoyance. 

"Boo Boo, the only rule is that there is no limit when it comes to the fall season." He held out the clear plastic platter piled high with protein balls and waved it enticingly. "Go ahead, take one."

Tora leaned back from the offensive treats.

"That freakin' stinks."

Now the full grown man holding the treats was pouting. "I'll cry if you don't try one."

"Yeah? Have I ever once cared about ya cryin'?"

"No! And that makes me want to cry even more!!!"

"Do I need to come and defend your honor or something, Blondie?"

Quincey perked up as his girlfriend stepped into the gym. "Sugarplum!"

She sauntered over with a half-amused grin and tugged off her warmups. "You look like you're about to cry. Is Tora being a jerk again?"

"Yes! He doesn't want to try my pumpkin spice protein balls!"

Her immediate grimace did not bode well for Quincey and his pumpkin spice treats, but Tora wasn't holding his breath. As much as Cordelia liked to give Quincey grief and remind him that they were just having a "fling," she had a terribly soft spot for him. They had met at another Crossfit gym when Quincey was doing a book tour for his newest novel and they'd gotten together after she had been "coincidentally" assigned work in Narin City. 

"Tora, just eat the things."

"Not a chance, Cordy," he huffed. "I like my taste buds just fine."

She scowled and crossed her imposing arms over her muscled chest. The woman could easily out-lift half the guys in the gym and had consistently ranked higher in the Games than almost all of them. 

"Eat one or I'll _make_ you. And I don't think that Poppy's going to appreciate the state you'll be in after I make you."

"Ooh, Sugarplum!" Quincey swooned with eyes that were practically full of stars. 

Tora would make fun of his best friend save for the fact that he knew just how sappy he could get over Poppy. He glanced back at the platter and his grimace deepened. He _hated_ pumpkin spice with a passion. He could barely tolerate pumpkin pies even when Poppy would make them and Quincey was no Poppy in the kitchen.

"Where'd you get the recipe?" he asked, hoping to buy himself a little more time. 

Cordelia smirked at him as she adjusted the straps on her sports bra and rolled her shoulders in preparation for their WODs. 

"I got it from Poppy's blog!" Quincey proudly stated and Tora knew that his doom was sealed. There was no longer a choice in the matter.

As he choked down the protein ball, Tora decided that he was definitely going to be having words with his wife when he got home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOD - Workout Of The Day


	7. Hiking Adventures

"Okay, Tora. When...I said that...that I wanted to get...some exercise...I meant...like walking around the block!" Poppy leaned against a tree huffing and puffing, her face already red and splotchy. "I don't think that...I can carry this...anymore..."

Golden eyes looked down in amusement.

"Bobby, that's your hydration pack. I think ya can manage."

"It's so heavy!" she whined before dropping her head back on her arm.

"It's filled at 1 liter. You'll be fine."

"I'm not going to make it back to the truck," she whimpered. "I'm not as young as I used to be! This isn't easy anymore!"

Tora shifted his rucksack so that the 80 lbs of weighted plates settled a little more comfortably on his back.

"You're a big tough girl, Bobby. I know ya can do this. Take a break if you need ta, and I'll just do some burpees."

It only took three full burpees before she was groaning in defeat.

"Oh alright, fine, Mr. I'm-so-strong-and-handsome. We can keep walking. It makes me feel even more useless just watching you do those things."

He settled a hand on her neck and rubbed it soothingly as they continued trekking through the forest.

"C'mon, it's not like that. You're the one growin' a baby and I think that's a lot tougher than anything I could do." There was a pleased blush rising on her cheeks now and Tora felt his smile widen. "You're the toughest girl I know, and besides, we've got chocolate truffles in the cooler back in the truck."

"Really?!"

He laughed at the renewed energy his wife drew upon and soon they were marching out of the shaded area and onto the path that would lead them to the parking lot.

"See? Ya made it, Bobby!"

"Wow, I can't believe it!" she cheered. "That must have been the longest walk of my life! It was at least five miles, right?"

"Eh, not quite that much."

"Oh?" She wiped at the sweat collecting on her forehead. It might be autumn but some of the days were still pretty warm. "How far was that?"

"We did the one mile loop," he laughed while she stared at him with a shocked expression.

"That's it?!"

"Not a bad place to start, so don't be discouraged, okay? It's good to take all the breaks you need and start off small."

She chewed on her lip in thought as they made it back into the truck and she settled in with the chocolate truffles and bottles of chilled electrolyte drinks.

"Tora? Was that...really okay?"

He took her face in his hands and squeezed softly at her full cheeks.

"Yeah. Absolutely okay."

Feeling encouraged she leaned back into her seat and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, did you say that you were going to do it again before we left?"

He handed her the keys and offered her one of his dimple-revealing smiles.

"I'm off ta the five mile loop. Just relax and enjoy the good weather and I'll be back in no time."

She puckered her lips in request and was rewarded with a quick kiss before he was jogging off on his insane workout. Poppy breathed another sigh of relief that he was not asking her to join him on this one.


End file.
